


Phantom Feelings

by cherryblossombomb



Series: Pokéwolf [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Derek pulls Stiles's extremely metaphorical pigtails, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pokemon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-28
Updated: 2012-10-28
Packaged: 2017-11-17 04:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/547706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryblossombomb/pseuds/cherryblossombomb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles did not get why people deemed it appropriate to battle in Pokémon Tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Phantom Feelings

Stiles did not get why people deemed it appropriate to battle in Pokémon Tower.

It was a resting place of departed pokémon, a place to be treated with respect and decency, as one would a human graveyard. In a way, he sort of supposed that battles might kind of be honourable in themselves, maybe dedicating battles to lost pokémon who’d spent their years devoted to their trainer. It also brightened up the place a little, really, with people’s jigglypuffs singing sweet lullabies or jolteons illuminating the dimly lit tower.

But even so… when Stiles visited this place, his mind was always fogged over like the seemingly constant dusky haze that buried Lavender Town. Having people scramble towards him to demand a battle was always something he eagerly awaited, but in here? There were too many memories and painful thoughts that left a strange ache in his chest.

This was where his mom’s pokémon were buried.

His dad had rarely regaled Stiles with stories of his mom’s journeys as a trainer, too agonising and still too fresh to bring up. Dad had chuckled, once, as he told Stiles that he used to think his mom was a criminal, because she seemed to turn up a lot when Team Rocket was causing trouble. Stiles didn’t know very much about her, not really, because she died when he was still really young. She’d never been able to teach him about the world of pokémon, never see him leave on his own journey… She would never know which pokémon he’d start out with.

But Stiles knew that she’d acquired all of Kanto’s gym badges, but only after a period of a few years, often sidetracked by new cities and returning to the Day Care Centre to help them out. Apparently, she’d been far better suited to being a breeder than a trainer, his dad had told him.

It had always gone unspoken that she’d never had time to set up her own. She’d only had her own child for five years before she died.

As a sombre sigh escaped his lips, so did the strength in his knees. He knelt before a gravestone and brushed away the dust over the name, lips twitching downwards. He licked at them, anxious and awkward, as was he always when visiting his mom’s pokémon. He couldn’t remember them, not really, only from old photographs and his mom’s old trainer card. He’d never know the meanings behind the names his mom bestowed upon them, nor what their natures were, or what kind of berries they’d liked best. He knew the Onix he caught yesterday better than he’d ever know about his mom or her pokémon.

But still, his dad was always so busy, so it was rare that he could find time to traverse all the way to Lavender Town. Although admittedly, Stiles’s reasons for visiting when his dad couldn’t weren’t entirely selfless. He was reluctant to see his dad. It was just – it was always so agonisingly uncomfortable. So many things had always been left unsaid, and Stiles spent weeks – months – away on his journeys, but even with all the things he did during that time, it felt like there was nothing he could tell Dad. He’d never told him how his Pidgey evolved into a Pidgeotto when Stiles was hurt and managed to fly him to the nearest town to be treated, he’d never told him how he’d encountered a vicious Vulpix that had been mistreated and now she was one of his closest friends, how his Squirtle had saved his ass more times than he could count, how he’d definitely acted like more of a girl than he’d like to admit when he found an Eeevee, or how he’d caught a Cubone and was unnervingly reminded of himself.

As lonely as his journey was, he kind of appreciated the solace of it all, and the solidarity he had with his pokémon that he lacked with people.

“Hey, Ninetails,” he said softly, leaning on his hands as he gazed sombrely at the grave before him. The silence surrounding him was unnerving, overpowering, and turned to white noise in his ears. He shook his head as if it would clear the fog that had settled over it like a blanket of snow. “I, uh,” he said, hoping his voice would break the strange dissociative feeling. “I’m never sure what to say here.” He laughed awkwardly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “But, um… Ah!” He raised a finger, grinning a little. “I caught a Vulpix since I last came.” He raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. “It would’ve been great if you could be here to guide her and stuff, but… I guess you can watch over her from up there, right?”

His smile fell. He wasn’t sure if he believed in heaven. Being here felt redundant to him a lot of the time; he often felt like he was talking to thin air, or trying to convince himself of his mom being around him. But he always tried to dismiss those thoughts, ignore them even though they were constantly lingering at the back of his mind, lurking like a Haunter.

He jerked in surprise when he felt something against his leg. “Holy _God_ —” he yelped, heart thumping, before sighing in exaggerated relief when his Eevee blinked up at him and tilted his head. “Jeez, you startled me, Eevee,” he grumbled, but scratched Eevee’s head anyway. He leaned into Stiles’s hand and licked at his fingers. “You guys need to stop, like, spontaneously leaving your poké balls. You’re gonna give me a heart attack,” he said, and then glanced around. “Maaaybe not the best place for a joke like that…”

Eevee tilted his head again before jumping from Stiles’s lap and emitting a high-pitched little growl. Bewildered, Stiles crawled over to him.

“Hey, what’s wrong? There’re no more ghosts here. Just Haunters and Gengars playing pranks.” But Eevee persisted in his furious glaring at the staircase, getting in front of Stiles again. “Eevee, what—”

He stopped abruptly, shocked into silence when he saw Derek Hale ascending the steps of Pokémon Tower. His jaw fell open and he gaped, honestly surprised, before Derek suddenly glared at him. His teeth smacked together when he closed his mouth and he groaned, rubbing his own head in agitated anxiety.

“Look, Derek, I – I’d really… I don’t want to battle. Just – out of – when I’m out of the Tower, sure, fine, but just—”

“Not here,” Derek finished curtly, looking impatient and as angry as ever, but not as guarded as a moment ago.

Stiles deflated, relieved. “Not here,” he agreed. His eyes flickered down to his Eevee, who was still on the defense, fur raised in anticipation. “Hey, Eevee, it’s all right,” he assured him, stroking him gently. “I can protect myself against him at least. Just fight for my honour when he brings out his Arcanine.”

“Still haven’t evolved it yet, huh,” muttered Derek, eyeing Stiles’s Eevee, hands stuffed deep into his pockets and looking more like an insecure school kid than the rogue trainer Stiles knew and was terrified of. Screw his Arcanine’s ability; Derek’s intimidation factor was larger than any pokémon’s.

“Nope,” Stiles said easily, ready to jump and defend his Eevee at any cost. “We’re not sure what stone to use yet.” He regarded Eevee with a soft smile; he was content with an Eevee. He didn’t care if he remained a Normal type forever, but he’d let Eevee decide when and if he wanted to evolve.

Derek didn’t respond to that, but no cruel jibes reached Stiles’s ears as they often did during their encounters, do he relaxed a little more. He wanted to ask why Derek was here, but – well, he knew, of course, but. He wanted to know if he was visiting his own pokémon, or someone else’s like Stiles was.

“Anyway, I, uh,” Stiles said, heaving himself up and brushing dust off his jeans. “I should be going. Need to get me a Potion or two.” He didn’t really; he always stocked up on tonnes, enough to hand out, because he would never let his pokémon suffer. “So,” he said with an awkward little grin, sticking his hand out. Derek stared at it for a long moment, just long enough to make Stiles feel awkward and insecure, and he retracted it and smacked it against his thighs. “Right! Okay, well. I’ll, uh, be seeing you. Maybe. Um.” He got out Eevee’s poké ball and lifted it, but Eevee whined pitifully and gazed at Stiles with beseeching eyes, and he caved immediately. “Ugh, jeez. Fine. You’re all manipulative, you know. All of you. Except Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto’s actually nice. He doesn’t take advantage of me.”

He glanced back to Derek just in time to see his lips fall into a frown, and he grinned a little, feeling a bit proud of himself for making the guy smile, even if it was at his expense. Derek just glared harder at Stiles’s beam.

“Well, see you, Derek!” he said, maybe a little too loudly for the place he was in, and gestured to Eevee to leave. He clapped Derek on the shoulder as he passed him, heart faltering in anxiety when Derek made a noise akin to a growl _far_ more intimidating than Eevee’s, and then skipping a stair at a time as he escaped Derek’s inevitable wrath.

He exhaled heavily, thankful he escaped unscathed. He’d had two battles with Derek, one of which he lost, and the other a close draw. He knew Derek was bitter about that, especially since Stiles had only lost just _barely_ the first time around, so he tried to steer clear of the guy. Besides, he always looked like he was about to explode or something. But then…

Stiles glanced back up the ominous swirling staircase, a sombre feeling cascading over him like rain, and sobered from his adrenaline high.

If Derek was in Pokémon Tower, he probably had a pretty good reason for being such a jerk a lot of the time.

A little noise from his Eevee brought him back from his reverie, and he smiled at him. “C’mon, Eevee,” he said, “Let’s head on over to Celadon.”

Throughout traversing the entire route there, he couldn’t help but think of Derek.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'll probably make more TW in the Poké-verse. ouo There're lots of pokémon outside the Kanto region I think would suit Derek. And Stiles too, probably, but I really like the ones I gave him in this one. I considered writing a whole adventure from Stiles getting his starter to taking on the champion, but I wasn't sure... so I might possibly just write snippets from their journeys? I want to write them being in each region though, so. I dunno, Kanto to Johto's pretty easy. It's just getting them to other regions with good explanations. orz
> 
> How said is it that Hilda/Hilbert's mom mistakes you for being her child when you reach Nuvema town in B/W2? ;____; Still not as sad as N's past though.
> 
> I'm making myself sad, oh. ;n;


End file.
